A few days ago, the New Yorker's George Packer lamented that "the thrill is gone" from American politics and it's just no fun any more. As I recall, the "fun" of politics for the left has usually been the fun of smearing those of us on the right as racist and regressive and "extremist," a term which means "outside the narrow band of debate I would like to allow." And so, predictably, Packer's list of complaints about American politics centers on "the extremism of the Republican Party"; the substantive issues he would like us to focus on are largely the favorite issues of the left, like inequality and global warming; and he ends with a "wish list" which consists of wishing that politics would move sharply to the left. (He is likely to be disappointed.)
In Praise of Partisan Rancor
In Praise of Partisan Rancor
In Praise of Partisan Rancor
A few days ago, the New Yorker's George Packer lamented that "the thrill is gone" from American politics and it's just no fun any more. As I recall, the "fun" of politics for the left has usually been the fun of smearing those of us on the right as racist and regressive and "extremist," a term which means "outside the narrow band of debate I would like to allow." And so, predictably, Packer's list of complaints about American politics centers on "the extremism of the Republican Party"; the substantive issues he would like us to focus on are largely the favorite issues of the left, like inequality and global warming; and he ends with a "wish list" which consists of wishing that politics would move sharply to the left. (He is likely to be disappointed.)